1935

Up here in the Northeast Kingdom of Vermont we had one of the worst winters ever. Lots of snow and sub-zero weather but great for skiing, snowshoeing, and skidooing. Perhaps the deep cold is the reason Dero Saunders and his wife, Bea, decided to tour Florida in late January, starting on the East Coast and winding up in Sarasota, the Florida hub area for our class. They managed to see the Ralph Spechts, the KenWebsters, the Rey Moultons, and the PaulVanAntwerpens, but not the Frank Spechts, the Bob Richters, or the Bill Kreigs.

At long last Maury Rapf returned from his extended Pacific trip on a commercial freighter with enough material for an autobiographical book about the movies. Ed and BJ Freeman have been trying for some time to organize a small mini-reunion in Waynesville, N.C., but due to assorted illnesses and prior commitments it is becoming increasingly difficult to lay it on. On the other hand, BillFitzhugh has fixed the date of the 1994 mini in Hanover for Friday-Saturday, September 30-October 1.

George Hoke writes that he is beginning to feel "a little long in the tooth." However, that does not interfere in the least with his crystal-clear memories of past events such as climbing up the Mt. Washington Cog railway with John Gregory in February 1933 when it was 33°-below with a 90 m.p.h. wind. Halfway up they passed a cross with a sign reading, "Here lies Lizzie Bourne frozen to death in the Blizzard of March 1888."

Bill Gahagan is still leading a productive, athletic, and intellectual life, being about to move up (with his partner) to the numbertwo ranking in the 80s national doubles. In addition he recently received a Certificate of Recognition and Appreciation from the city of Carmel-by-the-Sea for his many significant contributions to his home community over a period of many years.

We were somewhat discouraged to read that the faculty is again urging the Trustees, through the president, to discontinue the ROTC scholarship program. This action seems to be based on the rather specious theory that the newly adopted military policy is discriminatory in that it does not permit gays and lesbians to openly flaunt their homosexual tendencies.

Since our last report the sad news is that we have lost Earl Arthurs, Cookie Cook,Merce Curtis, Goody Goodman, EddieHenriquez, Wally Hodges, Aldo Nicoletti, Don Saunders, and Frank Wright. The good news is diat 322 (47 percent) of the alumni members of the Great Class of 1935 are still alive in spite of the fact that most of us are now 80 or over.

William H. Mathers, c/o Gordon Farm, RR1-Box 83, Sutton, VT 05867-9721